I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 141: Match after Match

BOOM!

Swords clashed against each other as the robes of the cultivators flapped violently from the shockwaves their strike had created.

Pulling back a few feet to gain some distance, they again rushed towards each other for the second strike as a deafening sound echoed in the entire arena.

The crowd watched the match with great interest, their hearts pounding with exhilaration.

"First Challenging Attempt Failed!" The Imperial Envoy announced. With that, the First Level cultivator from the Mao Clan was declared defeated.

The members of the Feng Clan congratulated their teammate when he returned to the stands. However, it was only short-lived. In their hearts, they knew that this was just the beginning and a long, drawn-out battle.

"Second Attempt!" The Imperial Envoy exclaimed a few moments later, and soon another First Meridian Refinement Stage cultivator from the Mao clan came up on the stage.

Although their levels were the same, the combat prowess of the Feng Clan’s cultivators, whose combat abilities had evolved after several hundred years of teaching and experimenting, was nothing to scoff at.

But under the continuous siege of cultivators, they too had no choice but to fall.

Alternating between only two cultivators of the Feng Clan, the Mao Clan successfully defeated one of them in the Fifth Attempt.

"First Win!" The Imperial Envoy exclaimed as the incapacitated First Level cultivator was taken off the stage by the management staff.

He was out of the tournament, thus bringing down the Feng Clan’s numbers.

’At this rate, by the time we’ll reach the top 3 clans, won’t the majority of our cultivators be incapacitated...’

Yi Chen thought as he observed the proceedings. How skewed the game was against them was becoming more and more clear to him.

The Second Meridian Refinement Stage cultivator from the Feng fared well and defeated the challenger from the Mao clan. However, exhaustion was apparent on his face when he returned to his seat.

"Fifth Challenging Attempt Failed!" The Imperial Envoy announced.

This was soon followed by the Sixth, Seventh and the final Eighth attempt.

In those attempts, the Mao clan incapacitated another First Level cultivator, weakening the Feng Clan’s numbers by two.

Despite not achieving much, the Mao Clan members still had a victorious expression on their faces as they left their stands.

They had done their share of the task of exhausting the Feng Clan’s cultivators and were sure to receive the rewards which were promised to them by the Kai Clan.

Meanwhile, Feng Ning, along with Wei Tian, was busy cheering the remaining cultivators. The ones who had fought previously looked exhausted, but after listening to their words filled with confidence, the eyes of the cultivators were filled with the much-needed strength.

"Second Round of the Major Ascension Trials begins now!"

The Imperial Envoy declared when all the members of the Ninth-ranked Chen Mo Clan were seated in their stands.

The matches began once again, and this time, just by the second attempt, the Feng Clan lost another First Level cultivator and barely won against Chen Mo Clan’s second-level cultivator.

He had deliberately targeted the previously chosen second-stage cultivators and thus wore a grin on his face while limping down the stage.

"Third Attempt!"

Like this, the matches continued in full swing as the Feng Clan’s walls, the cultivators from First to Third Level, started crumbling slowly but surely.

’Good job!’ Yi Chen exclaimed from his seat when he saw Qin Yao beating the shit out of his opponent from the seventh-ranked clan.

However, that happiness didn’t last long, as in the next attempt, they managed to defeat another Third Level cultivator and became the first clan to completely penetrate the Feng Clan’s walls.

What followed was the same strategy being played out to exhaust the Fourth Level Cultivators.

With each match, the expressions of the members of the Feng Clan grew grimmer and grimmer.

If not for Feng Ning and Wei Tian, who acted as anchors for their tumultuous emotions, they would have all started panicking by now.

"So, it’s finally time, huh..."

Yi Chen muttered when he saw the Fourth-Ranked Clan’s tactic to attack all the Fourth Level Experts one after another so as to weaken them all simultaneously.

Since it was only the top 3 clans which possessed Fifth Level Cultivators, this tactic made sense as they had no hope of defeating the Feng Clan’s Sixth Level cultivators.

Yi Chen’s gaze fell on the few Cultivators who were still sitting on the seats below him.

The numbers had dwindled significantly. However, there were still a few left on each defensive position.

To make sure that everyone is not in a state of being unable to fight anymore, which would give the Minor Clan a free pass to directly challenge the fourth-level cultivators who were still standing strong, Feng Ning had advised the lower-level ones to admit defeat if they found their opponent to be much stronger than them after their first exchange.

In that way, they could recover their stamina for the future matches rather than being completely spent after one battle and being unable to continue further.

"Qin Yao and Feng Min are doing a good job," Yi Chen softly muttered while glancing at the two, who were breathing heavily with grime and sweat clinging to their skin.

Even after being exhausted, their eyes showed no intention of taking it easy.

"Eighth Round!" The Imperial Envoy declared, and the very next instant, the cheering from the audience rose several folds.

It was finally the time for the matches everyone had been waiting for.

Hearing the cheers from the crowd, the expression on the Kong Clan’s team, which was making its way to the stands, became more and more confident.

With three fifth-level cultivators in their team, it was obvious that the quality of the matches was about to see a drastic jump.

The matches until now were purely based on the cultivator’s combat prowess in weapons and fist arts.

However, now with the arrival of the Fifth Level cultivators, the battles were about to shift to dazzling exchanges of martial techniques laced with tactics.

"First Attempt!" The Imperial Envoy declared, and the low-level cultivators of the Kong Clan soon paved the way for Fifth Meridian Refinement Stage Experts in less than fifteen minutes.

"Choose your opponent," The Imperial Envoy said to the Fifth Level cultivator who had just arrived at the stage.

Glancing at the five people who were seated in their seats, the man’s eyes hovered on a particular individual for a couple of seconds.

He seemed to be the youngest of the bunch and was sitting with folded hands. His raised shoulders, which almost seemed to touch his ears, made one feel that the other party was quite meek by nature.

’No matter what, don’t choose the youngest cultivator until the other four have been completely incapacitated.’

With the clear aim of saving the weakest for the last, the following directive had been given to him.

Clearly remembering the order, the Fifth Meridian Refinement Stage Cultivator pointed his hand towards the person sitting next to Yi Chen and said, "Him, I’ll fight him."

"Good luck, Brother Feng Qiao," the surrounding cultivators wished their teammate good luck with tensed breaths as Feng Qiao made his way towards the stage.

Seeing this, a subtle smile formed on Yi Chen’s face.

’Looks like the fish has successfully taken the bait,’ Yi Chen thought to himself while continuing to keep his sitting posture as closed and tense as possible.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Envoy, after confirming their presence on the Fighting Stage, finally gave the two of them a green flag

"Fight!"

"Be prepared to kiss the ground!" Like a crazed dog, the Kong Clan’s cultivator produced jets of air below his feet and rushed straight towards Feng Qiao’s direction with his sword aimed right at his neck.

With no room to dodge, the man was confident that Feng Qiao would have no choice but to cross swords with him to defend against his strike.

’In that moment, I’ll use my wind blades to impale him and make him give up...hehe’

The man thought with cunning eyes.

However, he had clearly underestimated the prowess of the martial techniques which the Feng Clan possessed.

"Towering Blaze Storm."

Feng Qiao muttered softly, and a towering pillar of flame completely engulfed the other party and threw his charred body off the stage in the next second.

"Out of Bounds! First Attempt Failed!" The Imperial Envoy declared, and the management team quickly took the Fifth Level Cultivator, who was desperately clinging to his life, to be treated.

’It’s good to have reliable teammates,’ Yi Chen thought to himself with a subtle smile on his face.

Just like how it happened now, in the second and third attempts, the other two Fifth Level Cultivators of the Kong Clan were defeated fair and square, which clearly portrayed the strength which the Feng Clan possessed.

As a result, the Kong Clan decided to utilise their remaining attempts to further weaken the Feng Clan’s cultivators who were at and below the Fourth Level.

However, already knowing their intention, all the Feng Clan’s members admitted defeat the moment they were chosen, and with them not having any Fifth Level cultivator to continue fighting, they were forced to quit empty-handed in the remaining five attempts.

With gritted teeth, they made their way back inside the waiting floor and were soon replaced by the Pan Clan, the second-ranked Minor Clan.

Just like the Kong Clan, they too possessed a maximum of three Fifth Level Cultivators.

With their tactics already prepared, they targeted the Fifth Level cultivators previously attacked by the Kong clan from last to first.

Unlike the Kong Clan, the Pan clan had much better Martial Techniques, and as a result, in the worst-case scenario, the Feng Clan was prepared to lose one Fifth Level cultivator from their side.

But what they thought would be one cultivator at worst turned out to be three in the end.

"We admit defeat," The Pan Clan’s representative declared with a satisfied grin on his face. With his Qi pool completely emptied out, he and his fellow Fifth Level cultivators were in no state for more matches.

’The reward from the He and the Kai clan is almost guaranteed, so it doesn’t matter,’ he thought while exchanging a smile with He Peng, who was observing everything from the first floor.

"Pan Clan Admits Defeat! The Final Round between the He Clan and the Feng Clan will begin in a few minutes!" The Imperial Envoy declared, and soon the management staff began repairing the fighting stage for the final round.

"This..." Feng Ning was at a loss for words at the results. It became obvious to her now that the final fate of her entire clan rested on her shoulders. Just imagining it, her breathing turned faster.